


Shattered

by Night_Queen3927



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Dissociation, F/M, Gen, Mustafar (Star Wars), Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Possessive Anakin Skywalker, Protective CC-2224, Protective Cody, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-04-06 22:14:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19071748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Night_Queen3927/pseuds/Night_Queen3927
Summary: Padme doesn't go to Mustafar, Obi-wan hesitates on Mustafar, Anakin possessiveness is akin to a dragon with its hoard-if he can hold onto it, it's his.Obi-wan loses to Anakin on Mustafar and Anakin's possessiveness dictates that Obi-wan is taken with him back to Coruscant to create a family with Padme





	1. Changed Destiny

The war was ended when the Hero With No Fear bent his neck and swore fealty to the Sith Lord Palpatine, yet the hope that kept the 212th and the 501st Legions fighting throughout was extinguished when the Negotiator’s heart and soul shattered into a thousand pieces.  
  
The Negotiator had convinced the love of the Hero With No Fear to reveal his location and for her to stay behind on Coruscant so that her and her children would be safe. He boarded a fast ship that took him to Mustafar to follow the last order of Grandmaster Yoda who was busy escorting younglings out of the Temple and recalling all of their Jedi.  
  
The Negotiator was the perfect Jedi; he was strong, unflinching, obedient, loyal, and followed the Jedi Code to the last tenant barring one section. He couldn’t let go of his attachment to the few sentients that he loved with all of his being. This was his downfall when he followed the orders of Yoda and went to Mustafar to battle with Anakin Skywalker, the Hero With No Fear. He fought valiantly and honorably yet when it was time to deliver the crippling blow, he couldn’t. His attachment to Anakin were too strong for him to be the cause of Anakin’s death or indeed the reason that Anakin had a horrible life quality. When Anakin saw that Obi-Wan hesitated, he sprang to his feet with a terrible roar, swinging his lightsaber with an insane glint in his eyes. Using the lightsaber that had saved Obi-wan’s life many times during the war, he cut off Obi-wan’s right hand that held his lightsaber. The hand, still clutching the blue lightsaber, fell onto the planet, a dust cloud billowing out from it.  
  
Obi-wan looked at the stump of his right arm with dull, unseeing eyes then transferred his empty gaze onto his former Padawan. Slowly, as though he was surrounded by molasses, Obi-wan’s knees buckled and failed him and he collapsed onto the burning ground. His head bounced one time then a second time on the hard rock. Obi-wan was stretched out upon the ground as if he was admiring the sky; his legs were extended to their full length, his new stump pressed to his chest with his left hand clasping it, and his weary eyes were half-way closed.  
  
“Get up, Obi-wan!” Anakin roared, blue and gold fighting for dominance in his eyes as he paced around Obi-wan’s body like a tiger who wasn’t done toying with his prey. “Face me like a warrior and I will grant you an honorable death that all of you so-called honorable Jedi want!” Obi-wan’s body didn’t move so much as an inch, still in the same position that it had fallen. “Obi-wan?” Anakin said softly, the blue in his eyes winning the battle for dominance but the gold still swirling around the iris. “Why aren’t you moving?” Turning off his lightsaber, Anakin hooked it onto his belt and crouched down by Obi-wan’s deathly still body. In a mimicry of gentleness, he reached out his metal hand and turned Obi-wan’s chin so that Anakin could look at Obi-wan’s face. When Anakin’s blue eyes met Obi-wan’s vacant gaze, he snarled a curse that he had learned from his troopers.  
  
Anakin thought that either Obi-wan would flee the Inner Rim to try and keep the Jedi Order alive or that Obi-wan would come after Anakin in an attempt to kill him. The second option was the more likely one and Anakin believed that either Obi-wan or he would die at the hands of the other. Anakin never once considered the idea that perhaps Obi-wan would lose his fire and would shatter like a teacup dropped on the floor.  
  
Quietly and gently as if handling a figurine that was made out of glass, Anakin scooped up Obi-wan’s lax body, maneuvering it so that Obi-wan’s head rested against his shoulder, and Anakin had an arm underneath Obi-wan’s knees and one supporting his back. Moving smoothly across the warped ground, Anakin glided to his ship which had a med-bay installed in it. Once he was in the ship, Anakin deposited Obi-wan on the Med-bay bunk, fastened the straps across his body and activated the med-bay droid.  
  
Whirring to life, the droid immediately scanned the unresisting body on the bunk and reported its findings to Anakin in a flat, tinny voice “The patient appears to have no deadly physical injuries. There are many minor lacerations and scrapes across the body that can be treated with applications of bacta and covered with a sterile bandage for a week. The patient’s amputation is not worrying, the wound is cleanly cauterized and if desired a prosthetic can be fitted to the patient in less than 2 months. During this time, the stump should have bacta applied and then it should be wrapped up to prevent any infections from getting into the bone.”  
  
“None of that tells me why he is not responding to me at all!” Anakin snarled, his voice echoing in the small chamber.  
  
“Please avoid raising your voice inside the Med-Bay. It may disturb the patient.”  
  
“It won’t disturb Obi because he isn’t flarking responding to anything!”  
  
“The patient may be experiencing a state of severe shock or of dissociation. That would explain why the patient is not responding to any outside stimuli. The best course of action for both of these two states would be to keep the patient comfortable and to keep up a soothing dialogue.”  
  
“You do that. I’m going to pilot us back to Coruscant and get Obi-wan to a hospital and check on my wife. If Obi-wan isn’t in this same state or better, I will personally pull you apart and reassemble you into a caf maker for the clone troopers.” Anakin growled, his voice getting darker near the end of his threat.  
  
“Yes sir. I will fulfill my programmed duties.” This being said, the droid turned back to Obi-wan, wrapped a blanket around him and started a dialogue that primarily consisted of the many species and their unique traits.  
  
Giving the droid a suspicious glare, Anakin glided out of the room and into the cockpit. He threw himself down in the pilot chair and started to ship’s engines up. Once the ship was warmed up, Anakin guided the ship up off of Mustafar and into space where he entered the hyperspace coordinates for Coruscant.  
  
As the ship entered hyperspace, a call came through on the ship’s comms. Angrily, Anakin hit the accept button which projected a blue image of his new Master, Palpatine.  
  
“Hello, my apprentice.” The slimy voice of the Sith came from underneath his new black hood. “Did you successfully terminate the Separatist Council?”  
  
“Yes, Master.” Anakin said as he slid off his chair and onto the floor with his head bent in deference. “They are all dead and I am returning back to Coruscant at this very moment.  
  
“Very good, Darth Vader. Did you encounter any troubles at all on Mustafar?”  
  
“No, Master. The council was ill-prepared and it was easy to slay them and all the guards.”  
  
“Wonderful. Now tell me, apprentice. How wonderful was it hearing the screams of that pathetic Jedi Master Obi-wan Kenobi? I convinced Yoda that he should send him, weaken the Jedi Order even farther.” The Sith cackled, lost in his imagination of the death of Kenobi. He didn’t see how Anakin’s shoulders tightened and his mouth became a snarl.  
  
“You convinced Yoda to send Kenobi to Mustafar to his death?”  
  
“Yes, apprentice! It was so easy, I just pretended to be the Force and whispered in his ear that since Kenobi was the ‘Perfect Jedi’ he could kill the Sith menace before it started!”  
  
“A very clever plan, Master.” Anakin’s voice was flat and cold.  
  
“So tell me! How did he die? Was it in great agony? Did he beg and plead for his life? Were his last words ‘How could you, Anakin? I loved you.’? Or was it something even more delicious?” Palpatine’s sadism and insanity were evident in every word that he said.  
  
“I’m sorry, Master but I didn’t encounter Kenobi. He must have arrived after I left.” Anakin practically growled, his rage and hatred for Palpatine coating each of the false words leaving his mouth.  
  
Palpatine misinterpreted the rage the hatred in his apprentice’s voice and said in a mock caring tone, “Don’t worry, apprentice. I promise that I will help you track down and kill your former master.”  
  
“Thank you, Master. I look forward to seeing you soon. If it is not too much to ask, could you meet me at the landing pad so we can discuss our partnership?”  
  
“Of course, Darth Vader. I’ll send you the coordinates for my personal landing pad and as a show of trust, I’m transferring full control of the clone troopers over to you. I also arranged for my personal doctor to deliver Senator Amidala babies. There is a boy and a girl, and all three of them are healthy and recovering in Coruscant General Hospital with a full squadron of the 501st standing guard over them.”  
  
“Thank you for this, Master. I promise that I will find a suitable way to repay you for all that you have done for me.”  
  
“I know you will. Goodbye, Lord Vader. I will transmit all the codes in 30 galactic standard minutes and I expect to see you on my landing pad in 4 hours.” Palpatine terminated the call in an effort to keep him in a position of power over Anakin.  
  
Lifting his head from it’s bent position, Anakin’s eyes glowed a terrifying molten gold as he silently began planning. Soon a beep sounded on the console signaling the receival of a message. Opening the message, Anakin found the code that would transfer every clone to his control and the coordinates for the landing pad. A shark grin spreading over his face, Anakin set the channel on his comm to the military one and started his plan.  
  
“All clone troopers, this is General Skywalker. I am executing code 24601-162667JGR. Effectively immediately, any order that does not come from me, Commander Rex aka CT-7567 or Commander Cody aka CC-2224 is to be disregarded. Starting now, your orders are to make camp, message your location, supply status, number wounded and dead to CT-7567 or CC-2224. Any Jedi that you find, stun them and imprison them. Do not kill any unless there is no choice, we will give them a trial later.” Anakin rattled off the first part of his plan, effectively cutting the legs out from underneath Palpatine. Switching to his private channel with Rex and Cody, he gave them additional orders “I need you to go to Coruscant General Hospital and find Senator Amidala. Your most important task from now on is to protect her and her babies at all costs.” He swiftly cut off his comm and stood up, making his way to the Med-Bay.  
  
As he opened the door, he heard the droid reciting facts about the human species. “...has what is termed red and white blood cells. The red blood cells are used to transport the oxygen that is required for a human to survive around their body. The red blood cells can be A, B, AB, or O type. Furthermore they can be either positive or negative which indicates whether or not that human has the Rh protein. O negative blood in the human species is considered to be…”  
  
“How is Obi-wan doing?” Anakin interrupted the droid rattling off facts about blood types of humans.  
  
The droid ceased his recitation and turned to face Anakin, preparing to inform him of the patient’s state, “The patient has had no change in his mental state. He does not seem to be responding to the litany of medical knowledge that I have imparted in any positive or negative way. His physical state is improving slightly. I have applied bacta to each of his injuries and covered them with a sterile bandage. The stump of his arm has been coated with bacta and wrapped with sterile bandages as well.”  
  
“Good. We are travelling to Coruscant right now and after I do a quick errand we are bringing Obi-wan to the hospital.”  
  
“That is indeed a prudent course of action. The hospital will be able to provide a wider range of services that may benefit the patient.”  
  
“We’ll be there in roughly 2 hours. Keep Obi-wan stable or you’ll be a caf maker.” Anakin casually reiterated his earlier threat, though this one lacked the malice that the former had.  
  
“Yes, sir. I will fulfill my programmed duties.” The droid replied with the same wording that it had used for the earlier threat.  
  
A quiet chuckle escaped from Anakin. As he left the room, he heard the droid resume it’s listing of medical facts.  
  
_-_-_-  
  
2 hours later  
  
_-_-_-  
  
Anakin gently guided his ship down onto the landing pad that Palpatine had given him the coordinates to. As he gazed out the window he saw Palpatine outfitted in a black robe with an oversized hood draped over his head standing alone on the pad. A wicked smirk crawled across Anakin’s face as he landed his ship and put it in standby mode, and checked that he had his lightsaber firmly clipped to his belt and in easy access for use. He pressed the button that would lower the ship’s ramp and stalked through the ship, as silent and deadly as a loth cat hunting its prey. He glided off the ship and stopped in front of Palpatine. “I have arrived, Master.”  
  
“Congratulations on your mission, Darth Vader. You will be an extraordinary Sith.” Palpatine oozed, his words trying to play to Anakin’s ego.  
  
“Thank you, Master. I have something for you. Something that is completely unexpected and is sure to be delightful.”  
  
“Oh? What trinket have you brought me, apprentice?” Palpatine tried to emphasize the fact that it was sure to be disappointing so that he could sink his claws deeper into Anakin’s mind.  
  
“This!” With a snarl, Anakin exploded from his kneeling position, unhooking and igniting his lightsaber as he did so. Faster that Palpatine could do more than raise an arm in an attempt to defend himself, Anakin swept his green blade that was tinged with red around the edges through the wrinkled folds of Palpatine’s neck, cleanly beheading him.  
  
The now headless body buckled, falling onto its knees and then flat on its chest. The head rolled away, a look of disbelief and surprise permanently etched on it’s wrinkled, ugly face.  
  
“That is for sending my Master to his death by my blade. And this” Anakin cleaved the body into quarters, “is because you are a kriffing bastard!” Panting from his outburst, Anakin ascended the ramp back into his ship, returning with a flare, gas, and a containment shield. He nudged the head back near the body and liberally doused both with the entire gas container. Then he set the shield to activate in 30 seconds, dropped it, lit the flare and threw it onto Palpatine’s corpse. The shield sprang up not a moment too soon because the body all but exploded into a black sludge.  
  
Glaring at the mess, Anakin activated a cleaner droid on the landing pad and set it to work scrubbing the sludge off the deck. Once the droid was busily scrubbing away, Anakin went back into his ship and started piloting it to the Coruscant General Hospital, planning to reunite his family.


	2. Family Reunion (Feud)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recap: Anakin joins Palpatine, Obi-wan and Anakin duke it out on Mustafar with Obi-wan losing a hand and his mind dissociates. Anakin reverts to his dragon mentality and decides to keep Obi-wan. They go back to Coruscant where Palpatine is killed and Anakin takes Obi-wan to Padme who is in the hospital recovering from childbirth

Once he landed, Anakin went into the Med-Bay and picked up Obi-wan. Carrying him the same way as he did on Mustafar, Anakin walked into the hospital and straight to the receptionist desk.  
“How can I help you?” The receptionist asked as they typed away on their holo screen.  
  
“You can get me a hoverchair and directions to Padme Amidala’s room.” Anakin commanded, his displeasure at being ignored in his voice.  
  
“We have orders that only General Skywalker and whomever accompanies him is permitted to access Senator Amidala’s room.” The receptionist said with the weariness of one who had said the same thing a thousand times to a thousand different sentients.  
  
“Maybe if you looked up from your holo drama, you’d seen that I am General Skywalker and thus have access to her.” The impatience that Anakin had at being blocked reverating through his words.  
  
Rolling their eyes, the receptionist looked up from their show fully expecting a fraud only to see an angry General Skywalker holding a limp General Kenobi. Yelping in shock, they grabbed the phone and barked orders for a hoverchair to be brought to the reception area as fast as possible. “I apologize, General. I have had to fend off several reporters who wanted access to Senator Amidala. She is currently on floor R, section A, room A. The hoverchair will be here in just a minute.”  
  
“Thank you. Both for keeping reporters away and giving me what I needed.”  
  
The hoverchair was rushed into the reception area and over to the desk. The deliverer panted out “Here’s the first hoverchair we could find. Who is it for?”  
  
“Me.” The single word uttered by Anakin was menacing and deep. “Now, I fully expect that neither of you are going to tell anyone that you saw us here today are you?” In total contrast to his words and voice, Anakin lowered Obi-wan into the hover chair with extraordinary gentleness and strapped him in.  
  
The person who delivered the chair and the receptionist both shook their heads silently.  
  
“Good. I hope both of you have a good day.” With that, Anakin started guiding the hoverchair towards the elevator and used the Force to push the button that summoned it. By the time that Anakin reached the elevator it had arrived and the doors were open. Silently both got on it and pressed the button that corresponded with Padme’s floor.  
  
As the elevator climbed up to the R floor, Anakin checked over Obi-wan with the Force, making sure that his injuries were all covered and healing.  
  
With a pleasant ding, the elevator doors opened on the correct floor and permitted the two men within to exit.  
  
“Ok, Obi. This here is the entrance and section A is up there. I’m betting that the first door we see will lead to room A.” Anakin started up a steady dialogue, remembering what the medical droid had told him on the ship. “Somehow, I’m guessing that you knew that I was seeing Padme and that’s how you found out about Mustafar. I’m wondering if you always knew about us or if it was a recent revelation.” Anakin used the force to open the A section door and then immediately saw the 12 clone troopers, all with pristine armor, clustered in front of a door. “I’m guessing that is room A, Obi-Wan.”  
  
“Halt. Please identify yourself.” The clone trooper at the front stated in a flat voice, his hand resting on his gun.  
  
“My name is General Anakin Skywalker. This is General Obi-wan Kenobi.” Anakin easily stated his rank and name.  
  
“Stand down, shinies.” A worn voice said, the owner of it opening the door. “I know these guys, I fought with them through the war.”  
  
“Hey, Rex. How are you doing?” Anakin asked, a smile on his face.  
  
“Senator Amidala is a handful. She nearly threw me out a window until I said that I was sent there on your orders.” Rex ran a hand over his hand, the bags underneath his eyes pronounced. “Hard to believe that you two are married because it seems like your personalities would clash.”  
  
“What makes you think that we are married?” Anakin scoffed, long ingrained habit dictating that he avoid and deflect that line of questioning.  
  
“Please sir. You two were the worst kept secret in the GAR. All of us were taking bets on when you would reveal your marriage.”  
  
“Was it that obvious?”  
  
Rex nodded his head, a smirk playing over his lips. “Only the shinies didn’t know.”  
  
“I have good news for you and the GAR, Rex. The war is over. There will be no more shinies, no more of your brothers dying for a service you didn’t choose. This I promise you and swear on my honor.”  
“Thank you, sir.” Rex whispered, his eyes glistening with tears. “You have no idea what this means to us.”  
  
“I have an idea, Rex. Remember, I used to be a slave. Everyday, I feared that my master would sell me and my mother apart, that the ‘police’ would kill us for looking at them wrong. I know what it’s let to have your life dictated by the people who don’t give a kriff about you.”  
  
“Enough of this! Come in and see your wife and her two children. They are adorable. The entire GAR will be begging to babysit them when they are older.”  
  
“Thank you for everything, Rex. This war would have been lost long ago within you and your brothers.” Anakin said sincerely as he grabbed the handles on the hover chair and pushed it into Padme’s room.  
  
Cody standing by the door let out a soft gasp of shock when he saw the state that his general was in. “General? General Kenobi, wake up! Tell me that you are okay!” Cody practically ripped Anakin away from the hover chair as he knelt on the floor before Obi-wan. Gently, Cody ran the knuckles of his loosely curled fist down Obi-wan’s cheek. A muffled sound forced its way out of his throat and tears glistened in his eyes.  
  
“What happened, General?” Rex asked quietly, leading Anakin into the entrance of Padme’s room. “Why is the General comatose?”  
  
“We fought on Mustafar and I made the wrong decision.”  
  
“General, you need to be more specific. Wrong decision could be killing an enemy in an extremely gruesome way, fought can be verbal or physical. Tell me exactly what happened.”  
  
“Chancellor Palpatine was a Sith. He poisoned my mind against Obi and tried to get me to become a Sith. He almost succeeded in destroying me. He sent me to Mustafar and I slaughtered the Separatist Council. Obi-wan found me just after that, he tried to reason with me, convince me to calm down and come back home. I was-crazed with rage and drunk off of power is the best way to put it- I wasn’t listening to anything that he said, and I kept repeating what Palpatine had told me. Mainly that the Jedi were all traitors and that Obi had betrayed me.”  
  
Hissing with anger, Rex pressed a hand against his forehead. Breathing deeply and in sets of three, he beckoned for Anakin to continue.  
  
“We fought with our ‘sabers, and Obi got me on the ground with his lightsaber poised to destroy me. He hesitated too long for some reason, and I got off the ground and sliced off his hand. After that, he just crumpled. He didn’t respond to me at all either to fight or flee. That scared me and so I brought him to my ship’s Med-Bay. The droid said that he was either in shock or a dissociative state.”  
  
“Anakin!” A female voice snarled, venom and shock warring for dominance in her voice. “Get over here. Now!”  
  
“Yes, Padme.” Anakin callee, his voice resigned and his body language showing that he was a tad fearful. “I’ll be there in a moment.”  
  
“You’ll have the pleasure of explaining what you did to the Senator. She loves Obi-wan like he was her own brother.” Rex chuckled lightly, then dropped his easygoing facade and leaned forward. “Honestly, General, you deserve this. Every single clone that I know loves General Kenobi because he was the one who saved us and so all of us are going to be mad at you for awhile.”  
  
Silently, Anakin nodded his head, accepting the punishment that he knew the clones would give to him. He then walked past Rex and through the doorway that led to the hospital room that Padme was staying in.  
  
The first thing that he noticed was the white walls and green tiled floors. There was a rectangular window set in the wall with a bench underneath it. Along the top of the window were light gauzy drapes that permitted sun in and underneath those were heavier mint green curtains to prevent spying. A large adjustable bed was positioned in the middle of the room and pushed tight against the wall. In the bed laid a furious woman with long brown tresses and chocolate eyes that were hard and cold with anger. In her left arm a baby with a few wisps of brown hairs dozed against the woman’s chest. A baby with a head covered in blond wisps was awakes and looking around at everything was cradled in the woman's right arm. The woman herself was wearing a fawn brown shirt with black pants.  
  
“Hello, Padme. How are you and the babies doing?” Anakin asked meekly, trying to avoid incurring her wrath even more than he already had.  
  
“How am I doing? Hmm. Let me think about that. I mean, my husband ran off when his babies were about to be born, I had 12 unknown clone troopers outside my door while I was screaming in pain trying to get these babies out of me. What else, I feel like I’m missing something. I’ve got it! My brother in all but blood is currently in a wheelchair and his mind isn’t in his body where it belongs!” Padme started off calm and composed, drawing on her years of politics but by the end of her speech, her words were tight and hissed out between her gleaming white teeth.  
  
“Padme, I swear that-”  
  
“I don’t want to hear excuses, Anakin!” Padme bit out, slashing her hand through the air and interrupting her husband. “I love you, Anakin, but right now I don’t want to look at you. Before you go though, you should meet your children.” Pointing her chin at first the baby on the left and then the baby on the right who had gone to sleep, she said, “Anakin, this one is Leia and this one is Luke. Both of them are healthy and neither one of them has any medical issues that we need to worry about right now.”  
  
A proud and relieved smile spread over Anakin’s face. Quietly, he stole up the side of Padme’s bed and laid a quick kiss on her brow, then repeated the action for each of the twins. “May the Sisters watch over you and bless you with a good life.”  
  
Just as silently as he had entered Anakin left again, abiding by Padme’s wishes. As he exited the room, Anakin heard Cody talking to Obi-wan, telling him what had happened since they last saw each other.  
  
“...course Waxer denies that he was involved in that prank, but I know. I saw him do it after all. Not going to report him though, all of us could use a good laugh and rest.”  
  
“I’m sorry, Cody. I know how close you and Obi are.” Anakin said, resting a gentle hand on Cody’s shoulder.  
  
“He is one of us. He is a brother at heart and I know thousands of Mandalorian families who would adopt him without a second thought.”  
  
“I know, he brings out this urge to protect him as he is tearing himself apart trying to save everyone.” Anakin hissed as he slumped down and sat on the floor with a thump  
  
“No! You don’t know! You and Rex are close but he doesn’t confide in you, you aren’t his brother. General Kenobi is a brother to the clones.” His sudden outburst draining him, Cody slumped against the wall. “Some of the clones are ace or homsexual or trans. One of my ace brothers asked his Jedi commander what to do and if something was wrong with him. The Jedi laughed and said that he shouldn’t worry about feelings because he was a soldier and nothing else. My brother nodded and went on his way. 2 weeks later he went to bed, swallowed three cyanide pills and never woke up.”  
  
“Force, I never knew that happened.” Anakin breathed in horror.  
  
“That’s not the only example. One of my sisters killed herself too. She told the General that she felt wrong in a man’s body and wanted to know what she should do. That general called her a freak and assigned her to cannon fodder duty. The next battle, she turned around, showed the General her middle finger and jumped in the way of a tank that had started the firing process.”  
  
“We need to do something about this. I won’t use you like this.” Anakin started pacing up and down the hallway. “Obi wouldn’t want this to happen.”  
  
“General Kenobi already set up a plan. He has the ‘troubled’ clones transferred to his unit where we have therapists set up to help them. The first time a clone came up to him and asked him what to do since he liked guys not girls, the General turned around, shrugged and said ‘well, I guess you go on dates with boys instead of girls’. Then they went off together to have a private discussion and when the clone came back he was much happier. He didn’t kill himself and to this day is still alive.” Swiftly, Cody stood up and grabbed the hover chair that Obi-wan was on. “I’m taking the General to the temple, maybe they can help him.”  
  
“I’ll come with you. Padme doesn’t want to see me right now” Anakin swiftly stood up, intending to follow Obi-wan.  
  
“No!” Cody barked, darting in between Anakin and Obi-wan. His arms spread wide in a futile attempt to create a barrier between the two force users.  
  
“No?” Anakin practically snarled, “Did I hear you right, CC-224? Are you defying a commanding officer?” His eyes flashed uncontrollably into between blue and yellow. Stalking forward with a hand on his lightsaber, Anakin growled, “You do not deny me anything! Especially when it concerns my wife, my children, or Obi-wan! They are mine!!”  
  
“Sir, please think about this rationally. Cody is just worried because he blacked out on Utapau with the General having killed Grievous only to find him here on Coruscant, mind gone and sitting in a hoverchair.” Rex interjected quickly, attempting to pull Cody out of Anakin’s path. “The only thing that he knows is you were with him when this happened! He’s just afraid something worse will happen.”  
  
Anakin relaxed, pulling his hand off of his lightsaber and his eyes flickered back to blue and stayed blue. “I see.” His voice was weary and guilt-filled. “Cody” The clone stiffened his back, making it clear that he refused to move an inch, no matter what may befall him. “I’m sorry. I’m just-”  
  
“No excuses, Commander. You brought him here in this state and I heard you telling Rex what happened. I won’t let you hurt the General anymore, even if I need to die first.” Cody’s voice was as cold as ice, something that Anakin had never had turned on him. Cody lifted his chin and added, “The entire 212th battalion will be right beside me, ready to protect the General with everything that we have.”  
  
“I can see that you don’t trust me anymore, Cody. I do have a compromise for you though.” Anakin offered, regretful at burning one of his bridges beyond all repair. Cody merely tilted his head in inquiry. “I’m going to take Obi-wan to a private estate where Padme and the children can join him, once she heals and can leave the hospital. The 212th and the 501st can serve as guards for the estate so that Obi-wan, Padme, Luke and Leia are safe all the time. Would you, both of you, be willing to do that?”  
  
“Yes, Sir.” Rex said, saluting Anakin. “The 501st will follow you to the end.”  
  
After considering the offer, Cody offered a counter proposal, “The 212th are willing to protect the estate, specifically the General, if it is on a different planet, one that has had no battles waged on it, no mass bloodshed. We don’t want the General to pick up on the terror and horror of war if he doesn’t have to.”  
  
Anakin nodded his head, “I can arrange that. Until it is settled will you stay here and protect them?”  
  
“Yes, Sir!” Both clones barked, saluting.  
  
Anakin went back into Padme’s room and bid her and the children a quick farewell before walking over to the hoverchair that Obi-wan was slumped in. Anakin gently picked up a hand and whispered something into Obi-wan’s ear before placing the limp hand back on his lap. Nodding at the clones, Anakin left the room quickly, hands already on his com to start enacting his plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! If I screwed up anywhere, please tell me, I'm editing this alone and I'm not great with the formatting yet as this is my first story on AO3.


	3. Puppet on a string (Yet pulling all the strings)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin goes off to inform the Senate that Palpatine was a Sith and that he killed him. Bail plots out how to ensure that Anakin gets off scotfree

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Previous chapter: Anakin arrives at the hospital, tells Rex what happened to Obi-wan, then tells Padme what he did and gets chewed out by Padme for his actions and meets his bouncing baby brats. Afterwards, he gets a cold dose of reality from Cody who told him everything that Obi did for the clones under his command and because of that all the clones are insanely protective of Obi. Anakin reveals his plan to move his family to a new planet far from the war and asks the clone to protect them

Anakin grabbed his Jedi cloak from where a doctor had hung it on the door to Padme’s hospital room, and fastened it around his neck. Swiftly, he pulled up the hood so that his face was shrouded in shadows, only his blue eyes visible.  
  
As Anakin strode down the hallway, cloak billowing behind him, he barked orders into his com. “Call together the Senate. You are authorized to use force to ensure that every single one of them are in the chambers in exactly 1 standard hour. Deadly force is not permitted or anything that could permanently injure any of them.” Affirmatives resounded across the com line accompanied by the sound of a multitude of feet stomping the ground as the clones raced off to do as they were instructed. “I will personally be escorting Senator Bail Organa to the chambers, so that we can discuss some things privately. Do not escort him.” With that final comment, Anakin shut off his com and tucked it into his cloak.  
  
Anakin broke into a run once he was out of the patient area of the hospital, sprinting down the stairs with his cloak flapping behind him. Skidding into his ship, Anakin moved quickly to prepare the ship for departure. Using the force, he pulled up the ramp as he sat in the pilot’s chair and started the engine. Soon, Anakin flew away from the hospital and was en route to the apartment in which the diplomats and their aides from Alderaan were housed.  
  
In 5 minutes, Anakin had landed at the complex in which Bail resided and had disembarked his ship. As Anakin approached the door, it flew open and Bail raced outside. His voice tense and worry-filled, Bail asked, “Is Padme alright? Did she give birth safely?”  
  
“Padme is fine, Bail. She gave birth to two healthy babies, and she named both of them, Luke and Leia.” Anakin found himself in the strange position of having to be to one to give reassurances instead of being the one who was receiving them.  
  
“Oh thank nature. I was terrified that she would die!” Bail heaved a great sigh, his shoulders visibly releasing tension. Suddenly his head jerked up, “Wait! Did you say two babies!”  
  
“Yes, Bail. A set of twins, one boy and one girl, Luke and Leia respectively.” Anakin rolled his eyes, irritated at having to repeat himself. “Now, I need to discuss something highly urgent and secretive. Can I come in?”  
  
“Of course,” Bail agreed immediately, gesturing towards his door. “Please, come in. Would you like any tea or caf?”  
  
“No, thanks. We just need to talk in a secure place.” Anakin walked into the building, Bail following behind him.  
  
“Follow me.” Taking the lead, Bail led Anakin to the private conference room. It was swept for bugs every day, multiple times a day in random intervals. Waiting until the door to the room was sealed and the shields that distorted the sound so sentients outside couldn’t understand them, Bail asked, “What was it that you needed to talk to me about, Anakin?” Seeing Anakin looking suspiciously around the room with his hand on his lightsaber, Bail added, “I can guarantee that this room is completely secure and that only the people in this room will ever know exactly what was said.”  
  
“The Chancellor is dead. I was the one who killed him. He was a Sith. He sent me to kill Obi-wan in an attempt to make me fall even further to the Dark Side.” Anakin blurted each statement out quickly, nearly stumbling over his words a few times. “I called a meeting of the Senate and authorized the clone to use force to get all the Senators into the chambers. I need your support to ensure that I’m not killed for treason and to prevent the Republic from falling apart.”  
  
Bail’s face grew more surprised with each statement that Anakin uttered, until at the end, he dropped his face into his cradled hands. “Okay,” Bail’s voice was muffled and exhausted. “Do you have proof that Palpatine was a Sith and that he sent you to kill Obi-wan Kenobi? On that topic, did you kill Kenobi or is he still alive?”  
  
“He holo-commed me and the recordings should still be in the ship outside. Obi is alive too, he’s just missing part of his arm. He’s also in a dissociated state according to the med droid”  
  
Pushing his head further into his hands, Bail let out an inarticulate scream. Bail started slamming his head into his hands after he stopped screaming. A minute later, Bail regained his composure and stated, “To summarize, Chancellor Palpatine was a Sith and is now dead by your hand, Padme gave birth to a pair of healthy twins, and General Obi-wan Kenobi, one of the most respected and liked Jedi knights, is missing part of an arm and is unable to communicate in any way, and you called a meeting of the Senate while authorizing clones to forcibly ensure all Senators show up. Did I miss anything?”  
  
“The rest of the Jedi Order are fleeing the planet en masse. Palpatine decided that my first act of loyalty was to slaughter the council on Mustafar and then Obi-wan. Somehow he managed to convince Yoda to send Obi after me, and then I’m guessing Yoda realized the dark presence was on Coruscant so he pulled the rest of the Jedi out.” Anakin added sheepishly, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck and offering a crooked smile.  
  
“Okay. I have a plan. You need to follow it to the letter for any of this to succeed. Do you understand?” Bail interlaced his fingers, sitting down at the table in the room, and staring at Anakin without any trace of the joviality that he was known for.  
  
Anakin nodded silently, his back going ramrod straight and his chin parallel to the floor. “Yes, sir.” He uttered, his voice steady and emotionless.  
  
“Most Senators don’t understand the force, they know the Jedi are good and Sith are bad. We’ll be saying that since Palpatine has a long-term exposure to you, he managed to infect you with the darkness of the Sith and temporarily drove you insane. You managed to retain enough of your innate goodness to avoid killing Obi-wan on Mustafar, only lopping off his lower arm. Then once you realized what had happened, you were shocked back to your Jedi state and came home to treat Obi-wan. When Palpatine contacted you, you played along until you could confront him when his guard was down. That happened once you landed on the planet, then you killed him and came here. Would that work?”  
  
“Would the Senators believe that? It sounds rather ridiculous.” Anakin raised an eyebrow, a look of disbelief etched on his face.  
  
“Most don’t know the finer points of force usage, and siths are a mystery to all of us. As long as you deliver it convincingly with appropriate emotion they’ll swallow it down hook, line, sinker.” Bail shrugged, getting out of his chair. Walking over to a wall, he pressed his hand to a spot that glowed once his hand made contact. A soft whir heralded the wall splitting to reveal a cabinet. Bail opened up the cabinet and pulled out a crystal tumbler and a bottle of whiskey that was already open. Sitting back down in his seat, Bail set the bottle and glass on the table in front of him. Swiftly, the bottle was opened and whiskey was poured into the tumbler so that it almost reached the rim. “Cheers! Here’s to hoping that we can pull this off.” With that encouraging note, Bail drank the entire glass down in a few swallows. “Let us go to the Senate and avoid you being sentenced to death.  
  
Bail stood up and unlocked the door, and giving Anakin a mocking bow, indicated that he should go first. They vacated the premises and boarded the ship that Anakin brought. Silently and swiftly, the ship departed to the chambers in which the Senate met and Senators were arriving en masse.  
  
~-_~-_~-_  
  
Arriving at the Senate Chambers, Anakin and Bail stayed on board the ship to examine the crowd of Senators streaming in the multitude of entrances so that they could meet in the chambers. Only a few of the Senators have no clones near them, so Anakin knew that they were the ones who just acquiesced to the clones ordering them to Chambers and went on their own power. Most of the crowd had a clone or two attached to them, presumably giving them nonverbal encouragement to keep moving, understanding that it was the best way to preserve their dignity. Only a few of the Senators were being dragged by the clones or held at gunpoint to ensure that they entered the Chambers.  
  
Bail ran a hand over his head, pushing out a hefty sigh. “Let's get this over with. I just want to go home and forget this mess occured.” The second statement was quieter, clearly not intended for Anakin to hear it.  
  
“Yep.” Anakin inhaled, pushed his shoulders back and opened up the door of his ship. Grabbing the drive that held the recordings of Palpatine, he marched off the ship, Bail following behind him. Striding down the path, Anakin cut his way through the crowd of Senators with his menacing aura and his reputation as the ‘Hero with No Fear’. Bail capitalized on this and followed in Anakin’s wake, grateful that for once, he wasn’t being elbowed and stepped on by the horde of Senators entering the buildings. The duo entered the building in record time, making a beeline for the chambers where Anakin would make his announcement at the center.  
  
By the time that Anakin and Bail had bypassed the gates and got on the center platform in the Senate Chambers, all of the Senators are in their respective pods. Some of them were visibly unhappy and others were shouting and raging at the clones blocking the exit.  
  
Rolling his eyes, Bail seized the staff that stood in the center of the platform and slammed it down onto the floor as hard as possible. The staff, since it was designed to let off a chiming sound that increased in volume in direct correlation to the impact strength of it hitting the floor, let out a chime that rattled the glasses in each of the different pods all the way up to the top. In 8 seconds, all the Senators had quieted down and were giving their attention to Bail and Anakin.  
  
“Greetings, Honored Senators. In case you don’t know me, I am Anakin Skywalker, Knight of the Jedi Order, Commander of the 501st Legion.” Anakin announced, his voice booming throughout the room. His chin was tilted ever so slightly up, and the corners of his mouth twitched upward. “I have called this meeting of the Senate for one reason, albeit one that is extremely distressing for all.” At this pronouncement, all hell broke loose with Senators screaming at him, asking why he called the assembly, who did he think he was, that he had no right because he was just a Jedi.  
  
Eyebrows twitching, shoulders trembling, eyes colder than ice, Bail let out a wordless snarl and slammed the staff into the ground harder than the first time. The chime that time around broke a few of the glasses. “Silence. You are all grown adults by your planets standards, and I would hope that all of you know how to behave in polite society by this time.” Each word that came out of Bail’s mouth was crisp and clear, and simultaneously burning hot and freezing cold. “I would thank you to act with a dignity befitting your position as a Senator in the Galactic Republic, which would include remaining seated when you are not talking and not screaming at the top of your lungs all at the same time.” Suitably chastised, each Senator shut up and slowly lowered themselves into their chairs. “Thank you. Please remember that if you need to say something to the general body, you have a button that will allow you to take the floor.” Bail stepped back and allowed Anakin to take the lead again.  
  
Giving into his blunt nature, Anakin stated “Chancellor Palpatine was a Sith and is dead at my hand.” Half of the buttons of the Senators lit up in rapid fire succession. “If it is allowed, I would prefer to finish my story and then I’ll take questions.” Slowly each button blinked off, each Senator hesitating on whether or not they wanted immediate answers or the whole.  
  
Slowly, Anakin started to weave his tale, his voice low and soothing.“As many of you know, Palpatine had taken an interest in me from the moment I arrived at the Jedi Order, and the Jedi, unable to refuse the Chancellor, agreed to let him interact with me. A lesser known fact of the Sith is that, if exposed to one over a long period of time, they can influence a sentient being and sway them to the dark side. That is what happened to me, I lost touch with the core of what made me a Jedi and Palpatine took control of me. He sent me to Mustafar so that I would kill the council there and he arranged for my Master, Obi-wan Kenobi, to confront me afterwards. Lost in the haze of the dark side, I engaged in a battle with him. It was only when I cut off his lower arm that I was startled back to myself, and realized the horrendous things that I had done.” Anakin let out a breath, tilting his head down to a show of shame, one that was false and true at the same time. “Desperate to save my Master, I took him to my ship where the med-droid performed rudimentary treatment and then I came back to Coruscant as fast as possible. On the way, Palpatine contacted me and revealed that he was the one who put Obi-wan in my path on Mustafar. I was horrified at this, but I managed to convince Palpatine that I was still with him. He transferred control of the Grand Army of the Republic over to me and ordered me to meet him at a specific place. When I met him, his guard was down and I managed to kill him before he could do anything.” Anakin lifted his chin up, each inch of him broadcasting his confidence and reassurance. “I will do my best to answer questions now. I also have a video of Palpatine confessing to what he did if any of you doubt my word.”  
  
Every sentient in the room was frozen in shock at the story that Anakin had told. Many couldn’t believe that the genial, grandfatherly man that they elected as Chancellor could do such horrendous things. A few knew that the Chancellor was extremely manipulative but even they were in shock that he was that manipulative. A handful of senator’s thoughts had gone down a darker track, that if Palpatine had groomed Anakin to become a Sith, he could’ve also been doing sexual grooming on Anakin. One of the Senators threw up at the thought because they had been advocating for stricter laws on sexual predators, while someone who could’ve been one was in the highest position of power to pass or deny those laws.  
  
Finally, a single pod lit up, and it drifted to the center of the room. “I believe that it would be best that the video is played, Knight Skywalker. That way we can definitely state whether or not Sheev Palpatine was a Sith. If he was a Sith, then the Jedi had the top say in what to do to them and the Senate has no right to prosecute you for acting in your capacity as a Jedi Knight.” A soft giggle emanated from the pod, a delicate green hand covering the mouth of the Senator. “If not, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law by the Senate, and most likely will face execution.”  
  
“Of course, Senator.” Pulling the hard drive from a pocket in his cloak, he turned and plugged it into the center console. Deftly tapping on the console, he pulled up 4 hologram screens, one facing each direction. Anakin stood up and faced the Senators again, clutching a remote in his prosthetic hand, and with his voice respectful and calm said “In deference to the Senators who haven’t had as much interaction with the Jedi and don’t know our history, I have some quick reminders. A ‘Master’ is the one who teaches, both in the Jedi Order and the Sith. The Jedi call our students ‘Padawans’ while the Sith call them ‘apprentices’. A definite mark of a Sith is their title, a Sith, no matter their status, sheds their former name and adopts a new name, and one that is prefaced by ‘Darth’. When I temporarily lost my grip on reality, Palpatine gave me a Sith name, ‘Darth Vader’.” With all of the Senators given a brief lesson on the naming conventions of the Jedi and Sith, Anakin hit the button that would play the video.  
  
By the time that the video had stopped, the killing intent of every Senator in the room rivaled that of Obi-wan’s when anything threatened sentients under his protection, officially or not.  
  
“I think that I speak for every Senator in the room when I say that you will be facing no charges, Knight Skywalker. I, personally, will also be doing my best to ensure that whoever is elected as the next Chancellor doesn’t reach the same level of power or insanity that Palpatine reached.” The same senator that had requested the video to be played said, their voice hard and orange eyes cold.  
  
“AYE!” Every other senator chorused in response, their eyes blazing with indignation, voices shaking the rafters of the ceiling.  
  
“I believe that is everything that we needed to discuss. I move to adjourn this meeting and to inform the press about everything that has transpired via statement tomorrow written by the press committee.” Bail cut in, steely-eyed and stern-shouldered. “Those in favor of both actions, please light your pods green. Those in favor of adjourning the meeting but implementing a press gag, please light your pods yellow. Those in favor of implementing a press gag but continuing the meeting but, please light your pods orange. Those not in favor of either, please light your pods red.” The majority of the pods glowed a bright green, with a few orange lights and yellow pods sprinkled among the midst. Not a single pod had been lit red. “The motion passed. This meeting is adjourned and the press committee will draft a statement to be released tomorrow about the information.” With all the loose ends tied off, Bail and Anakin left the room and headed outside.  
  
Boarding Anakin’s ship, Bail requested to be brought back to his diplomatic complex. Quickly navigating the traffic, Anakin arrived at the complex and Bail disembarked. Bail raised a hand in farewell and headed inside to fulfill his silent promise of drinking one of his best wines. Anakin waved goodbye and then reboarded his ship and headed to the hospital, eager to tell Padme the good news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate politics and I don't understand them at all but I hope I did a decent job at what is going on with the Senate. 
> 
> I hope you liked the chapter and as always, if I screwed up with formatting/editing please tell me.
> 
> Chapter title for those who are curious is because Bail told Anakin what to say in front of the Senate [i.e. 'Puppet on a string'] but Anakin is the one who is manipulating the Senate with specific words/actions so that he doesn't get in trouble/executed [yet pulling all the strings]


	4. Plans for the Future(One man's plan)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin lays out his plan for the future and exercises his manipulative nature to pull everyone that he considers his along with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recap of last chapter: Anakin shows his devious side and enlists Bail to help trick all the Senators into clearing him of any and all fault regarding his killing of the Chancellor.

Dodging in and out of the stream of fast paced traffic, Anakin flew to the hospital at the fastest speed possible without getting in any trouble. He knew that if he was caught doing anything that wasn’t considered proper Jedi behavior, for example, speeding when there was no danger or emergency that he had to get to, all of his efforts persuading the Senate that he was brainwashed by Palpatine would be for naught. In a record time, Anakin arrived at the hospital building where Padme had given birth and he had left Obi-wan. Darting out from the ship, Anakin made a beeline to the doors of the hospital, pausing barely a second to lock the ship. Using the force to augment his muscles and thus his leg strength, he bounded up the stairs to ensure that he got to his precious people before anything untoward could happen to them.  
  
Bursting into the suite that had clones standing guard outside, Anakin swept a penetrating gaze over the room to ensure that there was no sign of a struggle, that there were no cracks in decorations, the armor on each clone was perfectly straight and put on correctly(what many people don’t know is that the armor for the clones had concealed straps that made it very difficult for anyone who didn’t know how to maneuver them to don the armor, ensuring that it would be blatantly obvious that an infilitator was wearing it). Seeing no obvious or more subtle signs of any attack, Anakin relaxed, releasing his white-knuckled grip on the hilt of his lightsaber.  
  
“Identify yourself!” A voice barked, accompanied by the sound of the blaster charging up. “You have until the count of 3 or I shoot to kill! Three!”  
  
“It’s Anakin Skywalker!” Anakin yelped, grateful for the protectiveness of the clone yet upset that they drew weapons on him.  
  
“Give me Anakin Skywalker’s ID Number! I’ll give you 4 seconds before I shoot.” Another voice shouts, another blaster charging up to shoot  
  
“612194527.” Anakin reeled off the number with the ease of long practice, not stumbling over the tricky parts at all.  
  
“Confirmed, Sir. Apologies for drawing on you. We were following your request to protect both Senator Amidala and General Kenobi.” The apology was accompanied by the sound of two guns whining as the energy was released.  
  
Anakin entered the second room where he had left Obi-wan with Cody. Obi-wan was still in his chair, eyes glazed over and looking at everything and nothing at the same time. Cody was in front of the chair, gun pointed at the doorway and taking a knee to ensure a steady shot. Rex was standing at parade rest in front of the doorway that lead to Padme’s room, his gun already holstered.  
  
Once Cody saw that it was Anakin and not an imposter, he holstered his gun and turned to Obi-wan, kneeling in front of his chair. Cody took hold of Obi-wan’s limp left hand and started to soothingly rub to knuckles. At the same time, Cody started to talk to Obi-wan about little things that happened since they last saw each other. He mentioned the trip off of the planet where Obi-wan had killed General Grievous and the flight of the Jedi to a hidden planet only for Jedi.  
  
Anakin walked over to the chair and looked down at Obi-wan, feeling that something was inherently wrong about the picture that was painted. It took him a few minutes until it clicked in his head what felt wrong; Obi-wan was still and silent, both in the physical world and to Force. Even when Obi-wan was meditating, still and silent in the physical world, his Force presence was swaying and practically singing to any who listened that he was there, he was at peace. When he cloaked his presence in the Force in order to sneak up on other Force users, he was smooth and lithe in the physical world, like a cat stalking its prey in a hunt. No matter what he was doing, Obi-wan was never completely still and silent, either his flesh and blood body or his soul in the Force. Yet now he was, and it was unnerving to Anakin who had grown up with Obi-wan.  
  
Reaching out a trembling hand, Anakin ran his hand over Obi-wan’s reddish hair. Softly, he said, “Don’t worry, Master. I’m going to fix everything. Then you, me, Padme, and the twins can all go somewhere else. Somewhere without people who would gawk at you, a place where Luke and Leia can grow up happily, a spot where you can heal and be part of our family. I’ll make sure of it. And don’t worry, once I find Snips, she’ll come and join our family, everything will be perfect.” Near the end, Anakin’s voice grew possessive and the color of his eyes flickered rapidly in between a sickly yellow and his natural sky blue, fixated on Obi-wan’s limp body. Anakin’s hand spasmed wildly as he coldly repeated his last sentence,“Everything will be perfect and we’ll be a perfect family.”  
  
“Sir, I think Senator Amidala wishes to see you now.” Rex approached cautiously, hand hovering near the handle of his blaster. His work with people from all walks of life gave him the experience to recognize when someone was close to snapping. The fact that Rex had spent the majority of his life with Anakin Skywalker gave him an extra edge on others in seeing that he was dancing on the edge of insanity and ruin. “After you left, she asked us to ensure that when you returned that you go directly to her.”  
  
Jerking his head up and tearing his covetous gaze away from Obi-wan, Anakin locked a malevolent gaze onto Rex, who felt a chill run up his spine. “If that is what my beautiful darling requested, then I shall do as she asked.” Turning away from Obi-wan with a swirl of his cloak, Anakin stalked across the room to the door that led to Padme’s room. Just before he opened the door, he looked back over his shoulder, eyes a sinister yellow and casually issued a threat in a friendly tone, “Cody and Rex, you two have been some of the most loyal people that I have ever known, but if I ever find out that you have done anything that would turn anyone, such as some insignificant bastard on a planet in Wild Space or Padme herself, against me, I will ensure that you and all of your brothers are sold to the Zygerrians. I really don’t want to do that to my most loyal soldiers.” With the horrifying ultimatum vocalized and both brothers terrified of the unknown person who seemed to be inhabiting Anakin Skywalker’s body, Anakin’s eyes reverted to blue and he opened the door with a smile on his lips to greet his wife.  
  
As the door opened, Rex and Cody heard Padme talking to Anakin “There you are! I was worried after I heard about all the Senators being dragged-” The door shut before the brothers could hear more. Rex and Cody exchanged a worried look over the top of Obi-wan’s head.  
  
Inside of the hospital suite, Anakin kissed Padme on the cheek before going over to the cradle to check on Luke and Leia. Seeing both babies sleeping peacefully, Anakin opted to just run a gentle hand over their fuzz-covered heads and give each baby a single kiss on their foreheads. “How are you doing my love? Do you have everything that you need?” Anakin asked, walking back to Padme.  
  
“I’m fine, Anakin. I was worried about you. All the Senators flocking together meant that they learned about Palpatine’s death and I was concerned that you would be executed.” Padme whispered, a delicate hand stroking down Anakin’s cheek while her other hand interlaced with one of Anakin’s hands.  
  
“I called the Senate together to tell them everything. I do remember when you kept complaining on the troubles of politics and the best thing to do is get ahead of everything to ensure that the right story is what comes out. I took that lesson to heart and with the help of Bail, since you know that I’m terrible with politics, we told the story of what really happened to the Senators. They declared me free of all charges and that I was in the right because Palpatine was Sith and I was acting in my capacity as a Jedi to take out the Sith menace.”  
  
Holding out a hand in an unspoken demand for Anakin to help her sit up, Padme shuffled around until the pillows were supporting her in an upright position. Loving chocolate-brown eyes looking at Anakin, Padme asked, “What are we going to do now? I don’t want to stay on Coruscant, not if a Sith can get into the Chancellor position and stay there for years all while amassing power.” Tears started to leak down Padme’s cheek and with a quiet sob, she buried her head into her hands. In between the sobs, Anakin barely made out the questions that Padme was asking, where they would go, how they would protect their family, and more along the same line.  
  
“My darling, don’t worry. I have a plan for our family.” Climbing in bed with Padme, Anakin wrapped her up in his arms and started to lay out his vision for the future. An isolated planet far away from the turmoil of war. An army of clones that would guard the entirety of their family while helping all of them survive on the planet. Obi-wan acting as an uncle to Luke and Leia once he recovered from his shellshock, using the Force to play games with them and taught them. Ahsoka being a sister to Luke and Leia, watching over them and teasing them. As Anakin’s view of their future took shape, Padme calmed down. Her sobs stopped, and she dried off the last of the tears winding their way down her cheeks. She leaned against Anakin’s chest and listened as he continued weaving the possibilities for the future and raising Luke and Leia in a family.  
  
“Do you think that we can really do this? Just find some remote planet and escape from everything?” Padme asked, her voice hoarse from the sobbing and eyes red-rimmed from crying.  
“Of course we can. The Senate is practically on its knees in apology for giving so much power to the Chancellor without even a hint that it would be a bad idea. After all,” Anakin chuckled darkly, “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Even the most purehearted of sentients would fall with the sheer power that they handed over. They collared themselves and placed the leashes in the hands of a man who didn’t care for them as he should have.”  
  
“But why would they let us escape then? If you were the one who exposed him, wouldn’t they want you as a figurehead?”  
  
“Probably, but I will make sure that they know, if they attempt to do that, I will bring everything down around their ears. I will replace every single one of them that supported giving absolute power to Palpatine in the Senate and ensure that each and every one of them are reviled on their home planet.” Anakin fondly ran a hand through Padme’s loose hair, “All it would take is that video when they applauded the idea of turning Palpatine into a dictator and a speech from the ‘Hero with No Fear’ to turn the public against them.” Gently disentangling his hand from her hair and placing it on her chin, Anakin guided Padme’s face so that they were making eye contact. His voice soft and mellow, Anakin said “If it bothers you, we don’t have to do that. I’m sure that there is a different way to get all of us off of Coruscant. It probably won’t be as fast though, and I don’t want you to stay here any longer than you want to.”  
  
Nibbling her lip, Padme fell into deep thought. She carded a hand through her hair, arranging it so that it fell into a waterfall over her shoulder. After a few minutes, her hands stopped moving and she looked up at Anakin. “You can do it, but only as a last resort. And I have to approve it.”  
  
“Whatever you desire, my heart.” Anakin swore to her, his eyes sparkling in the light. He planted a gentle kiss on her temple and pulled her closer to him.  
  
Twisting in Anakin’s grasp, Padme curled up on Anakin’s chest. Resting her head on his shoulder, she started to drift off to sleep. Before she fell asleep completely, Padme murmured, “I love you Ani.”  
  
Eyes softening with the sleepy confession, Anakin curled one arm around Padme’s torso and cradled her head with his other hand. “I love you as well, Angel.” With declarations of love done, both of the people in the bed drifted off to sleep with dreams of the future in their minds. In the cradle by the bed, Luke and Leia cuddled closer together, all wrapped up in a tangle of limbs.  
  
Outside the room, Cody was keeping up a steady stream of chatter for Obi-wan, hoping that it would help bring him back to them. Rex was standing in front of the door, hand on his blaster ready to lay down his life in order to protect everyone within the rooms.  
  
In his diplomatic complex, Bail was downing glass after glass of high-end whiskey, bourbon, and rum. He was attempting to drown out the split second flash of yellow that he had seen in Anakin Skywalker’s eyes and the evil curl of lip in the Senate Chambers after he had successfully manipulated the Senators into clearing him completely and turning on Palpatine with barely any effort. Raising a cut-crystal tumbler, he mumbled out a drunken hope. “May the world survive his wrath if we ever anger him.” Draining the tumbler dry, Bail collapsed on the table in a drunken stupor and the tumbler fell to the ground, shattering into pieces-just like the trust that Bail had in the Senate and Jedi.  
  
The catalyst of the shatterpoint, Obi-wan Kenobi, was still locked inside of his own mind. A dark world where plumes of fire and ash shot from the ground and dark figures hurled recriminations, insults, and curses at the lone figure curled up in the center. A figure that lacked its lower right arm and was barely moving at all. Another figure loomed from the edges of visibility, a sharp blue rod of light illuminated his scarred face twisted into a fearsome scowl. The scarred man shouted with hate and disgust in his voice, “You are to blame for everything! I hate you!” The isolated man merely shuddered and curled up tighter trying to ignore everything that was happening, wanting nothing more than to go back in time and prevent everything from happening. To fix everything and everyone that had _shattered_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, if there are any formatting/grammar/whatever mistakes, please tell me and I'll try to fix it.  
> I was out of the country then sick as a dog for a while so it took me a little longer than I anticipated to finish up this chapter. Good news, I finished plotting everything out and there should just be one more chapter, an epilogue that shows what everyone is doing a year later. The characters might yank me off track though, so no promises. :)
> 
> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!


	5. A new home(Picking up the pieces)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The actions of Anakin and his family as they go to a new home and what happens there

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a weird dream that sparked the fickle muse and I managed to pound all this out in like 3 hours in the dark and edit it the next day! 
> 
> Recap: Padme and Anakin discuss their plans to leave to a new planet and what they want to happen there, but Anakin shows his ruthless side with his threats to the clones and plans for blackmailing the Senate.

The Senate didn't want to let Anakin and his family go at first, it was exactly as Padme had predicted. They wanted Anakin to stay, to become the new figurehead of the Republic, in an attempt to fix their reputation that had gone down the drain once it had gotten out that the Chancellor had gotten absolute power and was a Sith Lord.

Anakin following the promise that he had made to Padme went through multiple different attempts before he resorted to threatening to releasing the video that showed the majority of Senators cheering when Palpatine was given absolute power along with a video of him denouncing their actions. 

First Anakin just informed them that he was leaving with his family and the Grand Army of the Republic. The Senate went ballistic, attempting to pull laws out of nowhere that would force them to remain on Coruscant and under the Senate’s control. That way Anakin could be coerced into acting as a figurehead and symbol of the Senate therefore fixing their reputation.

When that failed, he pulled out the fact that the Senate had no legal authority to force any of them to remain on Coruscant. Anakin, as a Jedi Knight, answered only to the Jedi Council which was beholden to none but themselves and only listened to the Senate out of the desire to help fight back the Separatists and keep the peace. Padme was a citizen of Naboo so the Senate would have to first extradite her to Coruscant so that she was under their laws before they could force her to remain on the planet, something that would never happen since the Naboo loved Padme with a fiery passion and would never let her be taken away. The clones were legally commissioned and paid for by the Jedi Order so despite the name of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Republic had no legal grounds to keep the army under their control.

Grasping at straws, the Senate attempted to threaten to ground every ship off of the planet so that none of them could get off. Scoffing, Anakin shot that idea down at warp speed. He pointed out the cesspool of crime that existed on the bottom levels of Coruscant and that any of them would be willing to ferry them off planet. Especially Hondo Ohnaka, he had a soft spot for Obi-wan for some unfathomable idea. Hondo would do anything that would benefit Obi-wan while not harming himself, since he was a pirate after all. In addition all of the wealthy folk would be up in arms and furious if they were told that they couldn’t leave the planet to go to some vacation spot.

When the Senate still refused to see reason and Anakin had exhausted every other option, he resorted to threatening to release the video of the Senate willingly and happily handing the keys to the kingdom and the codes to all the commands. Ensuring that the Senate would comply with his desire to leave the planet and not interfere, Anakin threw in his threat to include a video of himself denouncing the actions of the Senate as well as the Senators themselves. With that the Senate was effectively trapped between a droideka and an assassin droid with any wrong moves resulting in their deaths.

Soon after the Senate was wrangled into submission, Anakin made a deal with a fleet of transporters to take everyone to a planet that was never settled and was empty of higher-functioning sentient life forms that would raise a fuss about the large amount of people coming to live there.

Once they got to the planet, Anakin started to set up everything so that they could be primarily self-sufficient. The clones were divided up into several different groups that were all assigned different roles that each played a key role in starting to make a society that could function without help. 

The shinies and unspecialized clones were sent into fields so that they could start a farm that would feed everyone as well as create a surplus that could be traded away for produced goods from other planets. The snipers and stealth units were assigned roles as hunters in order to get meat that could be used to ensure that everyone got the protein that their diets require. The medics retained their jobs as medical professionals, with multiple being assigned to every group of clones in order to ensure that all survived their jobs and remained healthy and hale. The commanders and second in command clones along with their personal units were responsible for acting as guards for the planet, manning anti-aircraft weapons to prevent unknown and unauthorized ships from coming in. 

Rex and Cody as well as the 515th and the 212th were in charge of guarding the estate where Anakin, Padme, Luke, Leia, and Obi-wan lived. Cody was always by Obi-wan, making sure that he was always okay.

A year later, everything was running smoothly. Trade ships were arriving monthly to buy and sell goods. All the clones were happy at being free of being forced to battle when they hated fighting and seeing their family fall in droves and being able to do something that helped their family. A few months after they had first settled on the planet, Ashoka had joined them and entered the family. Anakin had spent a week off-planet tracking her down to tell her the offer of her coming and living on the planet with everyone else. Padme had recovered completely from childbirth and had started offering her services as an advisor for people in politics as well as a negotiator. Her services were in high demand due to her rich history in politics and well known preference for talking things out to find a compromise that ended with all sides happy and not in a planet wide war. Befitting his possessive and controlling nature, Anakin was acting as the leader for everyone of the planet, deciding on major events with the input of Padme, Ashoka and the clone leaders. Luke and Leia had started walking and getting into all kinds of trouble. Befitting their legacy, Luke was already moving things around with the Force and Leia was using the Force to read the emotions of her family to see what was happening.

Obi-wan was still trapped within his own mind and the hoverchair with the stump of his right arm bandaged up. He was still wandering, lost in the shadowed maze of his mind, lit only by plumes of fire that silhouetted figures hurling abuse at him. As the year passed, he advanced closer to the exit of the maze, the darkness slowly growing lighter and the figures growing fainter as the exit came closer with every step. 

In a white hoverchair, a limp body tanned from frequent trips outside with shoulder length red-golden hair carefully brushed so that it hung straight, and a clean shaven chin twitched. It was a miniscule twitch, just the index finger on the left hand moving barely a millimeter to the left and utterly unseen by all. Yet it was the beginning of something shattered slowly piecing itself together, fragment by fragment, fitting broken edges together to make something whole again.

_Just because something shattered, doesn’t mean that it is beyond all repair. Sometimes, it just needs time and care to be put back together._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would just like to give a shout-out to francis1 who commented on all the chapters with nice comments! *Hugs* Thank you, it helped boost my confidence about my first work!
> 
> All done! Thank you for reading this far and I hope that you liked the story. As always, tell me if I made any mistakes with grammar/formatting/spelling/whatever.


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